The Coming of...the Purple Claw!

PURPLE CLAW!

The name that strikes terror into the hearts of evildoers...at least to the minds of an impressionable 9-14 year old audience!
Technically, it's the name of the metal glove that imparts mystic powers to it's wearer, but some refer to the user himself (or herself) by the name, much the way they do Green Lantern...
The user in this 1950s series, which mixed horror with heroics, was Dr. Johnathan Weir, a former US Army doctor who acquired it when he crashed his plane in Africa.

The Claw's origin and history, which Dr. Weir tried to trace, is somewhat cloudy, since it was all word-of-mouth. (It didn't come with a user's manual.)
What is known is that it's an ancient mystic artifact of Great Power When Used For Good. (Those who attempt to use it for Evil usually come to a Bad End!)
The bearer becomes a Defender of Humanity Against Occult Evil...whether they want the job or not!
The Claw's exact abilities and limitations are unknown, and Weir had to experiment to see what would and wouldn't work, always stumbling upon the right way to use it before being killed/dismembered/disintegrated by a foe. (Talk about "on the job training"!)

The series ran for only three issues, but Weir continued to fight evil as a reprint in Tales of Horror, until the Great Comics WitchHunt of the 1950s killed almost all horror/occult-themed comics titles.

As you might have guessed, we at Atomic Kommie Comics™ found it to be a perfect fit for our Horror Comics of the 1950s™ collection, even giving The Claw it's own section!

We think any of the collectibles we offer with The Purple Claw on them would make a kool Halloween-themed (or birthday) gift for the horror/occult pop culture kitch aficionado in your life!
But, remember...Use Them For Good...not Evil! ;-)

Video Fridays: THE GREEN HORNET in "The Frog is a Deadly Weapon"

Continuing our weekly feature "Video Friday"...

 The Green Hornet faces off against The Shadow!
Well, sorta...
The villain of this episode, gangster Glen Connors, is played by Victor Jory, who portrayed The Shadow in the 1940 movie serial based on both the pulp and radio show!
Connors is impersonating millionaire recluse Charles Delaclare, and slowly draining his assets.
Britt Reid wants to expose Connors/Delaclare, not only because Connors evaded the law by faking his own death and replacing Delaclare, but Connors was part of a conspiracy that framed Reid's father years ago!
Side notes:
The frame-up of Reid's father is never pursued beyond this episode. Was dear old Dad the 1940s Green Hornet? We'll never know...
The idea of the villain replacing a reclusive millionaire is later used in the film version of Diamonds are Forever.
The idea of fighting a flock of frogmen (say that five times fast) was probably inspired by the box-office success of the then-current James Bond flick Thunderball!
Lenore "Casey" Case, played by the lovely Wende Wagner, finally gets serious screen time in this episode as she does some investigating for Reid, but gets caught by Connors' henchmen. As clever as she is beautiful, she keeps herself alive by bluffing the criminals until The Hornet can rescue her!
For the first time we see The Hornet change from his costume to civilian garb in the back seat of the Black Beauty. He does this a couple of times during the show's run to appear as both Reid and The Hornet to criminals within a short time-frame.
This is the first appearance of Barbara Babcock (Hill Street Blues) as Elaine Carey, a competitor with Casey for Britt Reid's affections. Barbara performed on the original Star Trek five times (twice on-screen, three times doing voiceovers), each time as a different character!
While the '60s tv series is not yet available on official dvd, it is available on YouTube.
Here's the FIFTH broadcast episode "The Frog is a Deadly Weapon" in three segments.
Enjoy.

Fear the Fury of...Miss Fury!

She wasn't the first superheroine, but she was the first to be created by a woman!
Conceived, written, and illustrated by cartoonist Tarpe Mills (who dropped her first name "June" from her published credit), Miss Fury started life in 1941 as a newspaper comic strip.

Wealthy socialite Marla Drake was preparing for a costume ball when she discovered a friend was going to wear the same costume as her!
Horrors! Social ruin!
Francine, her maid, hastily suggested an alternative--she instead wear a black panther skin sent to her by her uncle, which had previously been used as a ceremonial robe by an African witch doctor.
Strangely enough, it fit Marla perfectly!
En route to the party, Marla encountered an escaped criminal and kicked his, well, you know...
Police and reporters initially referred to her as "Black Fury", but she called herself "Miss Fury" in notes attached to crooks she caught. (The name "CatWoman" was already in use! ;-) )

Two items of note:
1) The panther hide didn't give her any super-powers, as such items tend to do in comics!
Marla was a gifted athlete, and, that combined with the visual shock value of the costume, enabled her to defeat foes. (ask another wealthy socialite, Bruce Wayne, about his similar, equally effective, strategy!)
2) Unlike most Golden Age heroines (Wonder Woman, Black Cat, Phantom Lady, et al), who seemed to wear skimpy swimsuits to battle evil, Miss Fury's costume totally covered her (but extremely tightly)!

The series spun off into comic books in 1942, but only as reprints of the newspaper strips (albeit with new covers by Mills).
Sadly, unlike most other adventure strips, there were no other spin-offs like movie serials, radio shows, or even a Big Little Book or two!
The newspaper strip ended in 1952, but Tarpe Mills continued to work as a comic illustrator for various publishers, including Marvel Comics! Her last published work was a new cover for a graphic novel reprint of Miss Fury in 1979. She passed away in 1988.

We at Atomic Kommie Comics™ felt such a unique character would make a great, empowered role model for today's girls, so we gave her a section of her own in Heroines!™, where the so-called "weaker" sex RULES!
She'd make a cool pop-culture-themed birthday or holiday gift for your sister, daughter, or girlfriend!
Perhaps it'll inspire them to create a character of their own...

Fly the Halloween Skies with Sky Wizard!

In the 1940s, superheroes were the primary genre in both comic books and pulp magazines. The skies seas, and streets of pop fiction were filled with people in capes, cowls, leotards, or some combination thereof.
And, of course, a superhero had to have a super-power or gimmick that would set him (or her) apart from the crowd.
Which leads us to our feature character today...
Though he hasn't yet appeared in either Alex Ross' Project SuperPowers (except in a pin-up in the collected edition) or Erik Larsen's Next Issue Project, we at Atomic Kommie Comics™thought enough of Sky Wizard that we added him to the Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics™ lineup without hesitation!
Why?
1) He's "the Master of Space"! Catchy, eh?
2) He's a scientific genius! (Funky weaponry and modes of transport a speciality!)
3) He can't make up his mind about what costume to wear!
He wore a different costume in each of his four cover appearances!
No fashion victim he! (And you thought Marvel's Janet Van Dyne-Pym and Henry Pym had bulging wardrobes!)
4) He appeared in Miracle Comics! ("...and if it's a good comic, it's a Miracle! Thank you! We'll be here thru Sunday! Try the veal...")
With a name like that, you know we had to find a spot for him, and his book, in our kitchy lineup!
So, if you're looking for a unique, Golden-Age superhero-oriented birthday or holiday gift (shirt, mug, blank sketchbook) for your pop-culture craving sweetie, you can't go wrong with Sky Wizard!

And, c'mon Alex, stick him in Project SuperPowers (The best Golden Age revival on the market! BUY IT!)!
Of course, then you'll have to decide which costume to put him in! ;-)

How Do You Spell "Adventure"? H-A-Z-Z-A-R-D!!!

Mentioning Airstrip 27 in my recent Green Lama post reminded me of their first revamping of a 1930s-40s pulp character...Captain Hazzard!
An interesting combination of elements from already-established characters: wealthy globe-trotting adventurer with team of aides (Doc Savage or Avenger), training in para-psychic abilities (Green Lama or Shadow) and tendency to kill opponents (Shadow or Spider); Hazzard (he doesn't have a first name as far as I can tell) can also communicate telepathically with his men and senses danger with a forerunner of Spider-Sense, due to the fact he was blinded, sharpened his senses, and then had his eyesight restored thru an experimental procedure, but kept the hightened abilities (Black Bat)!
He faced the "Python Men of Lost City", and...well, that's it!
He only made one appearance!
There was no second issue!
Pity, since he had a lot of potential.
At least he left behind a cool cover, which we've digitally-restored and remastered onto a plethora of products including shirts, mugs, etc. at Capt Hazzard: Adventurer for those with an Indiana Jones/high adventure yearning!
But that's not the end of the story...
Much like Alex Ross has done with old comics characters in Project SuperPowers, noted writer Ron Fortier is reviving the Capt Hazzard pulp series, both with a rewritten version of the original novel "Python Men of the Lost City" and a series of new novels.
The books are linked below, and they'd make a great gift set in conjunction with any of our Captain Hazzard collectibles!